Cheng teng - cooling, refreshing dessert drink

-
Cheng teng is a uniquely sweet local dessert or comfort drink that has been around for generations. This icy cold dessert drinks are popular especially given our local weather that are hot and humid. You can also have your cheng teng (also spelled as cheng tng) warm or hot.

cheng teng
Bedok Corner cheng-teng
Cheng teng can be served either hot or cold. It is a potpourri of ingredients that include longan, ginko nuts, lily bulbs, white fungus, red dates, lianzi, barley, etc. Cold cheng teng is added with shaved ice. It is a sweet ‘cooling’ tasting dessert, like most desserts here.

Cheng teng is believed to be able to get rid of heatiness in the hot and humid Singapore weather due to the tonic effect of some of the ingredients, which are herbal in nature. Some ingredients are used as part of traditional Chinese medicine, which have been used for centuries. But with so many ingredients in a bowl, cheng teng tastes very refreshing and sweet. The hot or warm version is even sweeter without the added shaved ice.

cheng teng
Icy cold Cheng teng
Cheng teng typically sells for between $1.80 to $2.00. You can find cheng teng at most hawker centres and food-courts desserts stall that usually will also sell other desserts like chendol and ice-kacang. Though there are stand-alone cheng teng stalls like the one in Ang Mo Kio Market and Food Centre at Block 726 Avenue 6 called Four Seasons Cheng Teng, and Yi Le Xiang at Bedok Food Centre also known as Bedok Corner.

At Yi Le Xiang, a bowl of cheng teng, hot or cold, costs $3, but their ingredients are generous. At many schools' canteens you can get cheng teng for a dollar or less.

dessert stall
Typical dessert stall
The photo here shows a typical dessert stall that also sell kuehs or local snacks. You can see some colourful kuehs at the top shelves, like soon kueh or chinese dumplings, onde-onde and pandan flavoured kuehs. Onde-onde is a coconut covered greenish glutinous round kueh filled with brownish gula melaka or malacca sugar. So, at some desserts stalls you will find desserts and snacks.
Location: Singapore

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Mee soto and Soto ayam

-
Image
Mee soto is a spicy chicken noodle soup commonly found in Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia. Mee means noodles. The spiciness depends on how much black-ish color chili you put in your noodles. This hot chili topping is optional, to add zest to the taste. If you have been to Indonesia, you probably would have come across soto. Soto originates from Indonesia, which is a soupy dish of broth, meat and vegetables. Simple yet delicious. Mee soto The main ingredients of mee soto are yellow Hokkien noodles, bean sprouts and slices of chicken ( ayam ) sprinkled with fried shallots and some mint leaves. The soup or gravy contains coriander and lemongrass that gives it a unique fragrant smell and taste. Mee soto can be found in many hawker centres or food courts and sells for between $2.50 to $3.50. This noodle is usually sold by Malay stall holders. Cheap, spicy, good and tasty! The yellow noodles are similar to the ones in mee rebus , only the soup or gravy is different. The other variant is
Read more

Flowers of VIPs and Celebrities at World Heritage National Orchid Garden

-
Image
The orchid family, Orchidaceae, is one of the two largest flowering plant families in the world, the other being the sunflower family, Asteraceae. Orchids are also one of the most widespread and variable families of flowering plants. There are about 30,000 orchid species in the world, making up to 8% of the plant kingdom. They can be found on all continents that support vegetation but are most diverse in the tropics which suits well in Singapore tropical and humid climate. Orchids are generally herbaceous plants as they do to have woody parts like trees or shrubs. Orchid seeds are also the smallest seeds in the world. Many orchids grow on trees called tree orchids or epiphytic orchids, but they do not receive nutrients from the trees and are therefore not parasites. Many other orchids grow on the ground called ground or terrestrial orchids. And orchids that grow on rocks are called lithophytic orchids. Few others are lianas, climbing on small trees such as Vanilla planifolia . Vanilla
Read more

Exploring Biodiverse Pasir Ris Mangrove Forest and Swamps

-
Image
Most who head to Pasir Ris will invariably think of Wild Wild Wet, a water theme park, and Downtown East or E-Hub. Very close to Wild Wild Wet and Downtown East and hiding in the eastern corner of Singapore is the mangrove forest and swamps, home to mudskippers, the amphibious fish that can live both in water and land (you really have to look hard as they blend very well with the environment and has the colour of brownish mud) and otters! Pasir Ris mangroves forest are part of the larger Pasir Ris Park. Other marine creatures that you may spot are crabs and they are several different species of crabs including the brownish tree-climbing resident crab called Eppy. Its full name is Episesarma singaporense or Singapore Vinegar Crab, a native crab. As you walk along the boardwalks you may see mountains of crabs' 'condominiums'. Another crab which is commonly found living among mangroves is the small porcelain fiddler crab. Male fiddler crab has one claw larger than the other th
Read more